Originally Posted By bushmaster:
No matter what you say or who you say it to, the fact is we are the largest manufacturer of these rifles in the country. We are a proud "privately" owned company manufacturing the best AR type rifle made for Law Enforcement,Govt Agencies and for the civilian market. Call the BATF & get the total rifle sales for the last few years & tell me what you find. We do not have a State to keep us in business, all we have is our quality products, great customer service, and the best management in the business to keep us #1.
Bushmaster Firearms Made With Pride In The USA
Proud American Citizen
Jarrod McDevitt
Bushmaster Firearms

Do you think Jarrod would post false info in a public forum where it can be held to scrutiny? I do not know if this (his statement regarding the size of the company)is true or not, but I can confirm my own personal experience, as an FFL holder, mirrors his statements regarding customer service and quality. I don't think Colt produces that many rifles any more, and I do not believe any other company is even close in size to BM. I could be wrong, and, as they say, size isn't everything. But it matters! BM is a great company either way.

Bushmaster toots their own horn on their website under "news" as far as 1999 industry sales volume. Way ahead of the next manufacturer of the AR15 in sales numbers according to them.
[url]www.bushmaster.com/documents/news/1999sales.asp[/url]
Of course those numbers may be quite different now.

Hmmmm. Maybe his info is lacking.
From Colt's web site. Note the part about "exclusive production of the M-4 carbine extending through the year 2010".
[b]1998 proves to be an eventful year for Colt. Especially noteworthy is the return to Colt of the U.S. Government contract for procurement of M-16 rifles in excess of 32,000 units. Complimenting this is a contract for updating 88,000 M-16A1 rifles to the A2 configuration for the U.S. Air Force. Additionally Colt acquires Saco Defense which is a Maine based company specializing in automatic weapons for the military.
A revitalized Colt embraces the year 1999 with a backlog of military rifle/carbine orders amounting to approximately 59,000 units. This includes orders for exclusive production of the M-4 carbine extending through the year 2010.[/b]
full text: [url]www.colt.com/colt/html/i1a_historyofcolt.html[/url]

Help me with the math, because when I add Colt's 29k commercial sales (reported on the bushmaster site) to the 59k government sales reported on the Colt site. I get right around 90k Colt AR type rifles in 1999.
When I divide 90k by 64k I get something like Colt sales = Bushmaster sales times 1.5
Maybe Jarrod can help with this

And how do Colt's number compare to
[size=6][b]F.N.'s[/b][/size=6]
[url]www.fnmfg.com/products/m16/M16.htm[/url]

" the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny " J. Madison<

Originally Posted By estoner:
Help me with the math, because when I add Colt's 29k commercial sales (reported on the bushmaster site) to the 59k government sales reported on the Colt site. I get right around 90k Colt AR type rifles in 1999.
When I divide 90k by 64k I get something like Colt sales = Bushmaster sales times 1.5
Maybe Jarrod can help with this

View Quote

Bushmasters site data does not include Govt contract only commercial retail sales...read the fine print.
[url]www.bushmaster.com/documents/news/number1.asp[/url]
[beer]

Bushmaster has said that they do not concentrate on government sales. They aim towards the LEO and civilian markets which are more lucrative.
I have bushmasters and I am very satisfied. There are few differences between the manufacturers but I believe that Busmaster builds an excellent product at a price that is more attractive. And the fact that they gear towards civilians is a plus.

" the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny " J. Madison<